Toroidal winding machine

ABSTRACT

The toroidal core winding machine having a split annular shuttle and including a shuttle plate positioned adjacent to the shuttle and means for splitting and displacing the shuttle to facilitate the locating of the toroidal core. An elongated wire-engaging endless belt extends laterally on either side of the plane of the shuttle about the rear portion of the shuttle and is supported to move with the shuttle. The shuttle and belt are synchronously driven by means of an interconnecting gear arrangement.

States ateI [191 German [4 Oct. 29, I974 TOROIDAL WINDING MACHINE 3,506,207 4/1970 Stoppel 242/4 A Inventor: Kenneth P. Gonna, 480 S. Main 3,766,641 l0/1973 Metzler et al 29/605 St., Rand l h, M .0236 0 p ass 8 Primary Examiner-Billy S. Taylor [22] Filed: Feb. 9, 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks [21] Appl. No.: 330,973

Related US. Application Data [57] I [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 131,935, April 7, The toroldal core wmdlr lg machme havmg 3 P 1971, Pat. No. 3,764,082. nular shuttle and including a shuttle plate positioned adjacent to the shuttle and means for splitting and dis- 52 us. Cl. 242/4 B, 29/203 R, 29/605 placing the Shuttle to facilitate the locating 0f the [51 Int. Cl H01f 7/06, HOlf 41/08 roidal core- An elongated Wire-engaging endless belt 58 Field Of Search 242/4 B, 4 BE, 4 R; extends laterally on either side of the Plane of the 29/203 1 203 R, 1 05 593 shuttle about the rear portion of the shuttle and is supported to move with the shuttle. The shuttle and belt [56] References Ci d are synchronously driven by means of an intercon- UNITED STATES PATENTS necting gear arrangement.

2,627,379 2/1953 Moore 242/705 B 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures a 291m l FATIENIED U "EU 20 3 3 844 495 I TOROIIDAL WINDING MACHINE RELATED APPLICATION This is a continuationin-part of application Ser. No. 131,935 filed Apr. 7, 1971 and now US. Pat. No. 3,764,082 dated Oct. 9, 1973, on a toroidal head winding machine.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a toroidal core winding machine, and, in particular, to an improved core winding machine that can accommodate various wire sizes and can be operated quickly and efficiently.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Toroidal core winding heads have been developed for a variety of purposes. A number of core winding heads have been designed for purposes of winding large diameter metal wires on comparatively small cores. Some of these early attempts to provide satisfactory winding machines have embodied combinations of rotatable shuttles with moving belts. The arrangements which have been attempted to date do not provide a satisfactory solution to all of the problems inherent in core winding. These prior art devices, inter alia, have limited speeds, have restricted versatility to size, require substantial time for preparing cores for winding, and substantial time for unloading cores.

In my copending application Ser. No. 131,935 now US. Pat. 3,764,082, dated Oct. 9, I973 referred to herein, one other problem that was discovered with that particular device was that there was a certain amount of slippage between the shuttle and the belt that engaged with the shuttle thereby causing improper operation and improper core winding. This slippage resulted in the wire not being wound tight enough on the core. It was found that this was due primarily to the independent drive that was provided for either the shuttle which drove the belt or the belt which drove the shuttle.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 1 Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention .to provide an improved toroidal core winding machine in which elongated lengths of material may be wound onto a shuttle in the same direction that the shuttle rotates in when the elongated material is dropped from the shuttle onto a toroidal core.

A further objectof the present invention is to provide an arrangement in which controlled deposition of an elongated length of material, such as wire, may be efrfected and in which the wire is deposited from a rotatling shuttle which the wire restrained sufficiently to give it a hard tug upon each cycle of deposition for tightness of winding.

Another object of the present invention is to provide .an improved machine for dopping wire or like materials from a splitring shuttle wherein the shuttle and an end- ,less belt means are synchronously driven by means of an interconnecting gear arrangement for dropping the wire from the shuttle.

Still another object of the invention is to provide both a fine adjustment for controlling the tension of the belt means and eccentric means which may be easily rotated to facilitate removal of the belt means without having to effect the setting of the fine adjustment.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a means for splitting the split-ring shuttle and moving the upper portion laterally to fascilitate removal of the core without requiring the removal of the endless band which circumvents only a portion of the periphery of the shuttle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for pulling taps during the winding of the core.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To accomplish the foregoing and other objects of this invention the toroidal core winding machine basically comprises a frame, an annular shuttle for carrying a length of material to be wound, means for supporting and driving the shuttle including driven rollers, a belt, a means for supporting and driving the belt. In accordance with one aspect of the invention a gear arrangement is used intercoupling the shuttle support means and the belt support means for concurrently and synchronously driving the shuttle and belt. In accordance with another aspect of the invention at least one of the belt support rollers is supported by an overhanging arm and the machine further comprises control means for displacing the arm up and down to relieve the tension in the belt and permit its easy removal. In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention there is provided means for pulling out wire taps from the core or toroid. The apparatus for performing this operates in a self-retracting manner preferably pulling out only a single tap without the need for the operator to rapidly manually retract the mechanism to an intermediate position before a second or third tap loop is pulled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Numerous other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will now become apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of what may be referred to as the left side of the toroidal core winding machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of the right side of the machine of this invention;

FIG. 3 shows one of the components of the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 including one of the belt engaging rollers and means for eccentrically displacing the same;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to that shown in I FIG. 2 with the shuttle plate in position; and

' FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top view of the machine of FIG. 1 showing means for pulling out wire taps during the winding operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, is adapted to be used with and forms a portion of a core winding machine. The other portions of the machine primarily include drive means for the present invention and support means for the toroidal core which is to be wound, as well as the desired number of accessories, including for example, a counter, a speed control for the operation of the present invention at desired speeds, as well as means for suitably rotating the toroidal core as it is being wound. Some exemplary prior art patents include US. Pat. Nos. 2,894,699; 3,061,213; 3,141,623; and 3,459,384.

The head shown in the drawings is normally supported on a casing or frame which forms the major support for the entire toroidal core winding machine with the surface 1 of the bottom wall of the housing block 2 being secured by suitable means, such as screws, to a preferably inclined wall of the casing or frame. This housing block 2 comprises essentially a solid metal unit having side walls 3 and 4, and front and rear walls, 5 and 6 respectively. 1

An arm 8 is secured to the top of the housing 2 and includes a forward leg 8A (see FIG. 5) and a transverse leg 88. The leg 8A is normally vertically aligned over the top surface of the housing block 2. Transverse leg 88 extends laterally over and slightly beyond the right side of the housing 2 in vertical alignment with a projecting lateral support 2A, which is suitably secured to the right side of the housing block 2 (see FIG. 2). Leg 8B is pivotally secured to support 2A by pin 9. The entire arm 8 may be pivoted about pin 9, as discussed in more detail hereinafter, in order to split the shuttle.

Means for driving a shuttle 13 are supported in part by the block 2 and in part by the arm 8. This means includes a pair of shafts 6 and 7 that extend through and are suitably journaled for rotation in fixed bearings in the block 2. Leg 8A of arm 8 has journaled in it two shafts l0 and 11. The right sides of shafts 11, 10, 7 and 6 have shuttle drive rollers 12A, 12B, 12C, and 12D, respectively, secured to them in a suitable manner. These shuttle drive rollers support an annular split ring shuttle 13. A shuttle support roller 14 also engages the inner surface of the shuttle 13 between rollers and 7. This shuttle support roller 14 is supported eccentrically on a shaft is so that the roller 14 may be adjustably tensioned against the inner surface of the shuttle 13. The end of the shaft 15 is supported in the housing 2, and as shown in FIG. 1, there is provided an adjusting slot 15A and securing screw 16 so that the shuttle support roller 14 may be axially adjusted with respect to the axis of shaft 15 to accommodate different size shuttles which may vary in width or thickness.

The drive mechanism shown best in FIG. 1 includes pulles 10A, 11A, 6A and 7A attached, respectively, to the shafts l0, l1, 6 and 7. The pulleys 10A, 11A and 6A are substantially identical. The pulley 7A is the drive pulley for both the shuttle and the belt means discussed hereinafter. The driven pulley 7A has a pair of grooves (not shown) for accommodating drive belts 19 which couple from a power source (not shown). Pulley 7A also includes a second pair of grooves (not shown) for accommodating a pair of drive cords 20. The drive cords 20 encircle the drive pulley 7A and driven pulleys 6A, 10A and 11A providing synchronous driving for the shuttle 13.

The arm 8 is supported for adjustable pivoting movement about pivot assembly 24 which extends through support 2A and is secured to the housing 2. The pivot assembly comprises an arrangement such as the one shown in my copending application referred to herein. Thus, the pivot assembly is provided with a pin 25 having a slot 31. Pin 25 is positioned in block 2. A pair of cap screws 27 and 28 (see FIG. I) extend through the block 2 into slot 31 to prevent the pin 25 from rocking forward or backward. The assembly 24 also includes a shaft (not shown) which is eccentrically secured to the end of pin 25 so that rotation of pin 25 by a screw driver inserted in slot 31A will cause a forward or rearward movement and very little vertical rise of the shaft of the pivot assembly. It is this shaft that extends through and supports support 2A. Adjustment of pin 25 in turn carries the lateral support 2A in a subatantially forward or rearward movement. This in turn permits fine forward and rearward adjustment of the shafts 10 and 11 relative to shafts 6 and 7. Adjustment of shafts 10 and 11 relative to the shafts 6 and 7 is necessary since the distance between shafts 6 and 10 on the one hand and 7 and 11 on the other should be identical in order to have proper full four roller engagement with the inner surface of the shuttle. While these adjustments are normally made only once, they are important in assuring proper four point contact of the four rollers with the inner surface of the shuttle.

In addition to pivoting about pivoted assembly 24, the arm 8 also pivots about the axis of pin 9 and may be moved about both these pivot points by a control arm mechanism 40. Control arm mechanism is similar to the one shown in my copending application referred to herein and includes an arm 41 which is pivotally supported on leg 8A by an eccentric means 42. In this arrangement the pin 43 is a split pin having a slot 44. A threaded shaft 45 having a handle assembly 46 is threaded through the top half of the pin 43 as viewed in FIG. 1 and engages the lower half of pin 43. The shaft 45 extends through a slot in the top surface of arm 8A permitting front to back rocking motion of the shaft 45. The pin 43 may be rocked by first axially rotating shaft 45 to loosen pin 43. Shaft 45 is then pivoted to rock shaft 43. Pin 43 may be rocked over the arc of the slot in arm 8A by the shaft 45 and locked in any rotational position desired after such rocking by threading the shaft 45 down until the two halves of the pin 43 bind in the hole of leg 8A in which they are located. The pin 43 has the lower end of arm 41 pivotally secured to it by means of a shoulder bolt 50 (see FIG. 2), with the axis of bolt 50 offset from the axis of pin 43. Thus, rotation of pin 43 by means of shaft 45 permits the leg 8 to be rocked on the shaft of pin 25; that is, the shoulder bolt 50 is used as a pivot point to raise the arm 8 about the pin 43. The lower end of the arm 41 has a bearing wheel 51 rotatably supported at an angle. This bearing wheel has its surface bearing on the surface of wheel 52 which is supported from block 2 and is shown in FIG. 2 in its uppermost position. The eccentric displacement of wheel 52 shall be discussed in more detail hereinafter.

The location of normal contact between wheels 51 and 52 depends in part upon the setting of pin 43. This setting in turn controls the absolute spacing between rollers 10 and 11 on the one hand and rollers 6 and 7 on the other hand. This spacing is critical in respect to the proper closing of split-ring shuttles supported on these rollers. Thus, by rotating and setting pin 43 the space between rollers 10 and 11, and 6 and 7 may be adjusted for normal operation. When the shuttle is to be opened for removal or other purposes the wheel 51 is rolled over wheel 52 by rocking the arm 41 about shoulder bolt 50. When the arm 41 is thus rocked, the arm 8 moves about pivot assembly 24 and the wheel 51 rolls over the upper portion of wheel 52. The arm 41 is then pulled forward as viewed in FIG. 1 causing the upper part 13A of the shuttle to separate from the lower part 138 which remains fixed in position.

The wheel 52 is eccentrically mounted and is secured to a shaft 52A having a control arm 523 (see FIG. 1) coupled to the other end thereof. In FIG. 2 the shaft 52A has detent means associated therewith for holding the wheel 52 in the position shown in FIG. 2. This detent means includes a ball 54 and associated spring 56 disposed in block 2. The ball is urged by the spring into a groove 58 in shaft 52A for holding the wheel in the position shown. A rocking movement of handle 52B causes the wheel 52 to move eccentrically downwardly. This action is primarily provided to lower the shafts l and 11 so that the shuttle may be quickly removed. Also, the movement of the shafts and 11 upon the lowering of the wheel 52 facilities the removal of the shuttle 13.

The endless belt 60 has a section which extends about and engages the rear of the shuttle as viewed in FIG. 2. This belt is formed with a series of teeth 61. The teeth engage teeth on the drive wheel 62 which is supported on a shaft 63 that extends horizontally through housing 2 and is suitably journaled at 63A as indicated in FIG. 1. The input drive from shaft 7 is coupled to the drive wheel 62 by way of gears 62A and 6213 which are suitably supported adjacent the surface of block 2 and in interengaging relationship as shown in FIG. 2. When the shaft 7 is driven from belt 19 the interengagement of gears 62A and 62B cause a concurrent rotation of shaft 63 for driving toothed wheel 62.

The belt 60 also extends about guide pulleys 64, 65 and 66 with the smooth surface of the belt engaging the outer periphery of the shuttle between pulleys 65 and 66. The pulley 65 is supported on a shaft 65A which is in turn secured to the free end of leg 8A by means of bracket 658. The pulley 64 is supported on adjustable arm 70 shown in FIG. 2 which is in turn supported on the free end of leg 88 by a shoulder bolt 71. The arm 70 comprises an L-shaped member. One leg 72 of the L-shaped member carries the shaft of pulley 64; the other leg 73 being used for finger adjustment. The arm 70 is provided with an arcuate slot 75 through which shoulder screw 76 extends. The threaded end of this bolt is secured in the leg 8B to permit fine adjustment of the arm 70 for tensioning of belt 60 on rocking movement of the pulley 64. This adjustment provides for a fine adjustment for the tensioning of belt 60.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 there is shown means for eccentrically displacing the pulley 66 so as to relieve the tension on the belt 60 and permit its easy removal. The removal of the tension on the belt may also facilitate removal of the shuttle 13. The pulley 66 cccentrically attaches to the shaft 78 which is suitably secured in block 2 and extends on the other side terminating at Knob 79. The pulley 66 is held by detent means, similar to those previously discussed with respect to wheel 52, in the position shown in FIG. 2. The detent means includes ball 78A and spring 788 biasing the ball into groove 78C in shaft 78. This detent means is contained within a passage in the block 2 as depicted in dotted in FIG. 2. The rotation of the knob 79 causes the pulley 66 to move towards the right in FIG. 2 thereby slackening the tension in belt 60. When the belt is to again be moved to its tension position the knob 79 is rotated until the ball 78A falls into the groove 78C thereby holding the pulley 66 in its tensioned position.

A side plate 80 (see FIG. 4) is secured to the housing 2 by a bracket 82, for example. The plate may be connect to the bracket 82 by a shaft 81 which is rigidly secured at one end to the inner surface of the guide plate 80. The other end of the shaft 81 extends into bracket 82 which is secured to the housing 2. The bracket 32 has a hole 84 to receive the shaft 81. Cap screw 85 secures and tightens the shaft 81 in the hole 84.

The plate 80 has an arcuate rear edge that extends from point to point 91. This arcuate segment between points 90 and 91 conforms to the arcuate curve of the shuttle and is spaced a short distance inwardly of the outer periphery of the shuttle. The side plate 81) is bent inward at 80A and is spaced inwardly from the periphery of the shuttle just sufficient to provide a curved surface that will engage the wire being drawn from the shuttle. The space between the periphery of the plate 80 between points 90 and 91 and the inner surface of belt 60 should be sufficient to prevent engagement of the two and permit the wire to be drawn in the fashion described. The remaining portion of the periphery of plate 80 includes a cutaway section 95 at the forward end of the plate to permit positioning of a core 96 and for accommodating the wire tap pulling means described hereinafter. Plate 80 also includes a second substantially chordal section 97 provided to permit removal of the shuttle without removal of the shuttle plate.

A conventional support arm 98 supported by conventional block means 99, such as shown, for example, in US. Pat. Nos. 3,459,384, or 3,061,213, is provided. An insulating guide plate (not shown) may be provided for maintaining the wire close to the plate 80 as it is dropped from the shuttle to avoid kinking of the wire. A counter means such as the one shown in my copending application referred to herein may also be associated with and disposed adjacent to plate 80.

In the operation and use of the toroidal core winding machine of this invention, the core is supported by a core holding mechanism, not shown but of the type described in US. Pat. No. 2,872,123. To properly thread the core on the shuttle the shuttle is separated at 13C. The operator pivots the handle 41 about shoulder bolt 50 and thence pin 9 and seembly 24 to separate the parts 13A and 13B of the shuttle. The handle 41 is moved forward as viewed in FIG. I so that the upper part 13A of the shuttle moves forward of the lower part 1313. The core is then dropped onto the Iower'part 13B and the upper part is closed by return movement of the am 41. The wire is then loaded onto the shuttle by placing the free end of the wire in a small notch (not shown) in the shuttle and then causing the shuttle to rotate in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2. When sufficient wire has been loaded onto the shuttle the operator moves his hand transversely of the shuttle causing the wire to jump from the shuttle and move over the plate in loops. The belt 60 engages the wire which is pulled from the shuttle 13 over the inwardly curved surface 80A of plate 80. The inwardly curved surface 80A caused the wire to pass over the outside of plate 80 rather than the inside when dropping off the shuttle.

FIG. 5 shows a fragmentary top plan view showing the means for pulling out wire taps from the core during the winding operation. This means for pulling out wire taps includes a pivot member 110, pivot bearing 112, actuating arm 114, and support arm 116. Support arm 116 may be fixedly secured to the top surface of support 2A by means of cap screws 117 with its other end extending toward bracket 82. The pivot member 110 is pivotally secured at pivot bearing 118 to support arm 116. Actuating arm 114 also couples to pivot member 110 at 120 and extends through bearing support 112 to its knob end 122.

Normally, when no taps are being pulled out, the pivot member 110 is in the position shown in solid in FIG. 5 and a hook end 111 of the member is not engageable with the wire being pulled adjacent the shuttle plate. When it is desired to pull out a hook of wire thereby forming a tap, the handle 114 is moved from the position shown in solid to the dotted position X. The hooked end 111 is then extending beyond the surface of the side plate and into engagement with the wire being drawn from the shuttle. As soon as the wire forms a loop around end 111, the tension of the wire pulls the hook behind the side plate and into the Y position shown in FIG. 5. At that position the wire is still looped about end 111. After a few more turns of wire are wound on the core the tap may be dropped off the hook by manually pulling arm 114 to the withdrawn position shown in solid. Pin 119 causes the wire to disengage from hook 111. It is desirable that a few turns of wire be placed on the core before the loop is dropped so as to assure that the loop is snugly in place. However, arm 114 should not be held in the intermediate position for too long as it may retard the turning the core.

The means for pulling out wire taps from the core depicted in FIG. 5 operates in a self-retracting manner. This is most advantageous in that only a single tap is pulled out without the need for the operator to rapidly manually retract the mechanism to the intermediate position before a second or third tap loop becomes snagged. Also, the pulling of the tap can be readily accomplished while the machine is operating. The selfretracting feature is provided at least in part by the linear alignment of pin 118 with the hook 111 and with the center of the toroidal core 120. The tension of the wire will cause this stable alignment just prior to the wire striking pin 119. Bearing member 112 includes a swivel bearing having a passage 113 for relatively loosely and slideably accommodating arm 114. The member 110 and arm 114 are constructed and all of the components of the hook pulling means are arranged so that the arm 114 moves easily between position X and position Y. However, the position shown in solid must be selected manually because in order to move to that position the ball of bearing 112 must be rotated. Movement between positions X and Y does not cause appreciable rotation of bearing 112.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for winding toroids with elongated lengths of material carried by an annular shuttle, means for pulling out wire taps during the winding operation comprising;

a member having a wire engaging end,

means for pivotally supporting said member so as to permit said wire engaging end to swing in an are,

said supporting means disposed out of the plane of but adjacent the annular shuttle,

means secured to said member for selective manual pivoting of said member to direct the wire engaging end of said member into the plane of the shuttle and in engagement with the wire,

said member and toroid being positioned whereby upon engagement of the wire with the wire engaging end the pulling force of the wire causes the member to pivot so that the wire engaging end moves out of the plane of the shuttle,

and means engaging the pulled tap of wire when the manual pivoting means withdraws the wire engaging end away from the plane of the shuttle for disengaging the wire from the wire engaging end.

2. In the machine of claim 1 wherein the wire engaging end is hook-shaped and said engaging means includes a post.

3. In the machine of claim 1 wherein the wire engaging end of the member is at one end thereof and the supporting means is secured to the opposite end thereof.

4. In the machine of claim 1 wherein said means for pivotally supporting the member for assuming three basic positions including a manually moved to wire engaging position, an automatically moved to intermediate position and a manually moved to withdrawn wire disengaging position.

5. In the machine of claim 4 wherein in the intermediate position the pivotal supporting means, wire engaging end and toroid are substantially in line and in a stable condition.

6. In the machine fo claim 1 including bearing means for supporting a portion of said means permitting manual pivoting.

7. In the machine of claim 6 wherein said manual pivoting means includes an arm supported by said bearing means and a handle, said bearing means including a bearing and bearing support wherein said bearing is partially rotatable as said arm moves said member between different positions. 

1. In a machine for winding toroids with elongated lengths of material carried by an annular shuttle, means for pulling out wire taps during the winding operation comprising; a member having a wire engaging end, means for pivotally supporting said member so as to permit said wire engaging end to swing in an arc, said supporting means disposed out of the plane of but adjacent the annular shuttle, means secured to said member for selective manual pivoting of said member to direct the wire engaging end of said member into the plane of the shuttle and in engagement with the wire, said member and toroid being positioned whereby upon engagement of the wire with the wire engaging end the pulling force of the wire causes the member to pivot so that the wire engaging end moves out of the plane of the shuttle, and means engaging the pulled tap of wire when the manual pivoting means withdraws the wire engaging end away from the plane of the shuttle for disengaging the wire from the wire engaging end.
 2. In the machine of claim 1 wherein the wire engaging end is hook-shaped and said engaging means includes a post.
 3. In the machine of claim 1 wherein the wire engaging end of the member is at one end thereof and the supporting means is secured to the opposite end thereof.
 4. In the machine of claim 1 wherein said means for pivotally supporting the member for assuming three basic positions including a manually moved to wire engaging position, an automatically moved to intermediate position and a manually moved to withdrawn wire disengaging position.
 5. In the machine of claim 4 wherein in the intermediate position the pivotal supporting means, wire engaging end and toroid are substantially in line and in a stable condition.
 6. In the machine fo claim 1 including bearing means for supporting a portion of said means permitting manual pivoting.
 7. In the machine of claim 6 wherein said manual pivoting means includes an arm supported by said bearing means and a handle, said bearing means including a bearing and bearing support wherein said bearing is partially rotatable as said arm moves said member between different positions. 